clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Where Have All The Backup Tight Ends Gone?

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Quarless waits his turn - JSOnline. I'm not too worried about the development of Green Bay Packers TE Andrew Quarless. He's only 23 years old, and he's asked primarily to block. But I hadn't thought about how much the Packers have focused exclusively on TE Jermichael Finley.

There are five TEs on the roster, and here are the number of times they've been targeted through the first seven games.

Player Targets
Finley 37
Crabtree 2
Williams 2
Quarless 1
Taylor 0

The four backups all have their role, but receiving is not one of them.

I'm not disappointed in any of these guys for not catching more passes this season. There haven't been enough pass attempts to go around. It's good that they've done what the team has asked of them (blocking, special teams) and Quarless, D.J. Williams, and Ryan Taylor have all showed some skills as receivers in the past. Tom Crabtree catches a pass once in a while, but he'll always be primarily asked to block. I don't think any of them are as talented as Finley, but they'll provide options if they do lose Finley as a free agent next year.